Pietro Valpreda (29 September 1932 – 6 July 2002) was an

Italian anarchist Italian anarchism as a movement began primarily from the influence of Mikhail Bakunin, Giuseppe Fanelli, and Errico Malatesta. Rooted in collectivist anarchism, it expanded to include illegalist individualist anarchism, mutualism, anarcho- ...

, poet, dancer and novelist. He was sentenced to prison on charges of being responsible of the December 1969

Piazza Fontana bombing The Piazza Fontana bombing ( it, Strage di Piazza Fontana) was a terrorist attack that occurred on 12 December 1969 when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana ...

; in 1987 was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Cassation for lack of evidence."STRAGE DI PIAZZA FONTANA AZZERATI 17 ANNI DI INDAGINI"
''

la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

'', January 28, 1987 .

Life

Valpreda came from a poor working-class family in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and, after the end of his formal education, attended dance school. He made his living as a minor dancer on stage. He moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1969 where he frequented the "

Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...

Circle", before founding with several friends the "". Following the December 12, 1969

, carried out in the middle of the ''

autunno caldo The Hot Autumn ( it, Autunno caldo) of 1969–70 is a term used for a series of large strikes in the factories and industrial centers of Northern Italy, in which workers demanded better pay and better conditions. During 1969 and 1970 there were ...

'' of 1969 (Hot Autumn), he was arrested by the police. A taxi driver testified to having seen him on the Piazza a short time before the bombing,

Giorgio Bocca Giorgio Valentino Bocca (28 August 1920 – 25 December 2011) was an Italian essayist and journalist, also known for his participation in the World War II partisan movement. Biography Bocca was born in Cuneo, Piedmont, the son of teachers, an ...

"Quella sera in piazza Fontana"
''

'', December 11, 2009 . which left 17 dead and 88 injured. His testimony was not considered reliable, even if made in good faith. Another anarchist,

Giuseppe Pinelli Giuseppe "Pino" Pinelli (21 October 1928 – 15 December 1969) was an Italian railroad worker and anarchist, who died while being detained by Italian police in 1969. Pinelli was a member of the Milan-based anarchist association named Ponte ...

, was also arrested for the bombing, and died after falling from a fourth-floor window a few days later, while he was illegally detained by the police.Guido Crainz
"PIAZZA FONTANA"
''

'', December 11, 2009 . Pietro Valpreda's name was splashed across the media as "the monster of Piazza Fontana"Paolo D'Agostini
"Piazza Fontana il film"
''

'', December 12, 2009 . and the television reporter Bruno Vespa claimed that "the guilty man has been found". For three years, he languished in jail, awaiting trial. All over Italy, there were huge pro-Valpreda demonstrations and the trial was moved to the deep south, to avoid "political interference". Valpreda published his prison diaries, entitled ''It Is Him'' – the words used by the alleged witness, taxi driver Cornelio Rolandi. The criminal trial started at

on February 23, 1972: the Italian

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

took 15 years to exonerate Valpreda, when he was acquitted for lack of evidence, and 29 years to find someone else guilty of the bombing. It was later found out that the culprits of the bombing were actually neofascists and Ordine Nuovo members. As it emerged later, most probably Valpreda was mistaken for , an extremist, close to the neofascist scene, and who was a lookalike of the anarchist."Sul taxi della strage il sosia di Valpreda", ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

'', June 19, 2000 . After his release, Valpreda continued to work as a dancer and opened a bar in Milano. He wrote four books with ."Colaprico racconta come nasce un noir"
''

'', October 13, 2008 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valpreda, Pietro 1933 births 2002 deaths Dancers from Milan Italian anarchists Individualist anarchists Italian prisoners and detainees Overturned convictions in Italy Years of Lead (Italy)

Life

See also

References